Man-Up or die murderer marries in court moments after testimony about torture he inflicted on teen

COURT ON MAY 30 – Killer De Koker (right) allowed to marry Marais, moments after testimony in the death of Raymond Buys, on life support for 2 weeks after torture at the hands of de Koker

By Melanie Nathan, May 30, 2013.

Compare the two photos. One is the victim photographed in his hospital bed, about to die, and the other is his accused murderer about to marry on the same day of his trial.

Soon after an eyewitness testified to the horrific details of the torture, assault and neglect that caused the death of a young effeminate man at Wild Echo Game Ranger camp, the accused killer was allowed to marry.

Moments after the camp tent-mate of the murder victim, Gerhard Oosthuizen, provided a blow by blow account of the horrific torture inflicted upon 15 year old Raymond Buys, Alex de Koker, the alleged murderer, was permitted to marry in the Court room.

De Koker, 49, owner of the Wild Echo camp for rangers, which was once a right wing AWB (Afrikaans-Boers Resistance Movement) white supremacist training camp, married a woman, Johanna Marais (30) who he had met online, apparently before he was arrested for the murder, which took place in 2011.

After de Koker and Marais met on a social networking site they got together for first time in Rustenburg, where she lived. This according to Hannes van Zyl, a family spokesperson, and also a member of the AWB and Broederbond, the extremist right wing groups, which showed up in large numbers to support the accused. According to van Zyl they had been planning the marriage for some time, but their first request was turned down because de Koker was in prison, but now with his court appearance, permission was granted. Adv. Jacques Pienaar, De Koker’s lawyer (Advocate/Barrister) asked permission of the Vereeniging Regional Court and it was approved. The two were married on the spot.

Johanna Marais sr., the bride’s mother, reports The Beeld, brought her own minister from Klerksdorp to conduct the service. According to Van Zyl, “Alex and his bride, both their mothers and I were at the service. They took some of the paperwork outside the courtroom for completion.”

Immediately after they were married, de Koker was returned to the holding prison and he will probably be not allowed to consummate his marriage for as long as he remains in prison.

This is not a case of wondering what might have happened, as the testimony of the eyewitness tent-mate was explicit in the description of unimaginable cruelty perpetrated on the victim. This is also corroborated by the medical evidence pointing to the condition of the young teen who had been at the camp for at least a month before being admitted to hospital in coma.

It is shocking to see that the South African Press has barely reported on this, especially the English and African language press. The Afrikaner Press has reported, but have yet to provide the perspective of the mother of the victim and one can only wonder what she must feeling after hearing about the torture of her son in one minute and then witnessing the marriage of his murderer in the next.

This is no ordinary case and many are missing the investigative beat: Why was de Koker allowed to hurt yet another teen after being found guilty in the death of a teen some years before in similar circumstances. It was clear that young men perceived as gay were being subject to physical abuse, assaults and torture with two already dead, and yet de Koker continued his grim game, unfettered.

Over the years there have been 3 known teen deaths attributable directly to the actions of de Koker. His identity has never been in question, nor the methods he employed in his attempt to change effeminate young men from perceived “moffie” (meaning a”faggot” in Afrikaans) to straight and manly. The latter a concomitant of the extreme right wing culture, that men who are effeminate are perceived as gay and must change to (what we know to be the impossible) become straight.

Raymond Buys was beaten repeatedly with plastic piping, wooden planks and sticks while forced to carry out manual labor, tent-mate Oosthuizen, 19, told the Court. He said Buys was chained to his bed after he tried to escape and forbidden from going to the bathroom, repeatedly soiled himself, and forced to eat his own faeces. Oosthuizen said, after Mr Buys tipped over a container of washing powder, he was forced to eat what he had spilled and vomited foam. He had once seen Mr Buys in a hut at the camp with a pillowcase over his head, being shocked with a stun gun by Mr de Koker and Mr Erasmus. The Court was told that Buys had severe diarrhea for two weeks.

Alex de Koker and Michael Erasmus were found guilty of murder, child abuse and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, by the Vereeniging Regional Court in South Africa, today. By Melanie Nathan, February 27, 2015. Finally, after years of uncertainty and trial, Alex de Koker and his henchman Michael Erasmus were found guilty … More Justice as Game Ranger in Anti-Gay “Man Up” Camp Found Guilty of Murder

By Melanie Nathan, June 19, 2013. Today, in Vereeniging, South Africa, the ongoing murder trial of the owner of Echo Wild Game Ranger Camp, Alex de Koker, 49, and his co-accused, Michael Erasmus (20) was postponed yet again, due to the accused murderer’s inability to pay his legal fees resulting in the withdrawal of his …

11 thoughts on “Man-Up or die murderer marries in court moments after testimony about torture he inflicted on teen”

Sounds like all the camp guys saw what was going on. Can they bring them all to testify. There was a boot camp in the desert near Phoenix. They killed a kid too, I believe that camp owner is still in prison. Marais must be crazy. Raymond’s mom must be something else too. Twenty-two thousand for a month of camping. Those camp owners are dogs. Prison is too good for them. RIP Raymond!